Burris was appointed Dec. 30 to the Illinois Senate seat by scandal-tarred Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and after a dramatic rejection of Burris at the Senate doors Tuesday, Reid and Durbin are now laying out the path to his approval.

“It was very enlightening,” Reid said of the meeting and praised Burris’ candid nature, his integrity and his record of public service. An ebullient Roland Burris later appeared before the press Wednesday and said his seating to become the next Illinois senator was on track following meetings with Democratic leaders.

Reid suggested that Burris would be sworn in if he passes three critical tests.

First, he must get his appointment credentials signed by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, who has refused to sign the certification document. Burris is suing in the state’s Supreme Court to force White to sign the documents, a ruling that Reid and Durbin both said they wanted issued expeditiously.

“We are hoping that they act on it in an expedited fashion,” Durbin said, adding that he called the state’s attorney general, Lisa Madigan, to help the case proceed on a “timely basis.”

The next critical test is Burris’ testimony Thursday afternoon before a committee set up by a state legislative committee, which is reviewing whether to impeach Blagojevich. Reid, who said his testimony is paramount to whether he wins the seat, believes Burris is prepared to answer any and all questions about his appointment and has voluntarily submitted an affidavit on his selection.

“We believe what he’s going to do tomorrow afternoon is very important,” Reid said. “We believe the court decision is very important until we move to the next step.”

The next step would be action by the Senate’s Rules and Administration Committee, which reviews election disputes.

The panel will decide whether to seat Burris and make its recommendations to the full Senate, which will have a final say on the matter.

“There are number of efforts that we are going to undertake, one of which would be to send to the Rules Committee, but there is going to come a time when the entire Senate is going to have to act on this,” Reid said. “That day I hope will come sooner rather than later.”

Indeed, Democrats are eager to move past the growing distraction as they try to move the new Congress onto an ambitious agenda and help Barack Obama achieves his campaign promises.

The Burris situation has boxed Democrats into a corner. When Blagojevich was arrested last month on charges of trying to sell the state’s open Senate seat, Reid and his entire Democratic caucus sent him a letter urging him to resign so that Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn could fill the vacancy created by Obama’s White House victory. They said they would not seat anyone he appointed.